Contented
by Crysda
Summary: After the Fight with the Big Bad, what I think might happen. My First Fanfic, be gentle Fourth is Up.
1. Default Chapter: Reafirm Yourselves

Contented  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Joss Whedon's awesome characters or any part of his show.  
  
Chapter One: Reaffirm Yourselves  
  
"Okay, if you're new here then that's not a good excuse!" Buffy said loudly as she looked out into the crowded room of new recruits. "You are here to fight a war that is endless, this is a war against evil and until all man is dead, that will always be there."  
  
After the end of Sunnydale, the Scoobies moved back to Los Angeles to be a part of Angel's fighters, soon after Buffy was called in by the council that was now led by Giles and Robin Wood, they asked her and the team to move to England and take over the training of girls when they needed training. Each slayer was now born with her power, delivered to a watcher at the right time and then at corrected times, they were sent to Buffy.  
  
"Miss Summers, my name is Alicia Corbett and I just learned about this last night. What's going on?" Buffy looked to Xander, who was standing in the back of the room, he shrugged in answer to her unspoken question. She looked back to the young recruit and asked, "You weren't debriefed?"  
  
Alicia shook her head and Buffy sighed. "Go with Mr. Harris and find out who your watcher is then, if needed, have Mr. Giles debrief you."  
  
Buffy turned back to the whole group, "I will be your core leader but Kennedy will be your trainer, plus your chosen watchers will take on their duties as if you hadn't left home. There are other trainers and I will allow Kennedy to take it from there. I am, it this point, the oldest surviving slayer so don't be afraid to come to my office and talk to me about things."  
  
Buffy nodded to Kennedy, who stepped forward to gain control of her troops.  
  
Many things had changed since the battle with the first in Sunnydale. Dawn, of course, had also come with them as did Andrew and for some reason the boy fell for the Slayer's sister. For the longest time everyone had believed that boy was as gay as someone could be and maybe he was but he loved Dawn and made her happy. Faith and Robin had actually stayed together and Xander had become more than a friend for Buffy. After Anya and Spike died, they cried for each other and their mutual respect and friendly love grew to be more.  
  
"Buffy?" called Dawn, who was becoming a Watcher; under Giles' tutelage.  
  
"What do you need, Dawnie?" Buffy asked cheerfully.  
  
"Willow needs supplies; we're going to take your Jeep if it was all right with you?"  
  
Buffy nodded and watched as her sister ran to catch up with Willow who seemed to already be out of the Slayer training compound. Willow had used her powers to find that pure happy place beyond the Uber Witch in herself. When she freed the powers of the Scythe to the Slayer potential of the world, she'd freed herself from the bad.  
  
"Hey Babe," Xander said in greeting as he came up behind her. They kissed gently and she hugged him, being careful with her slayer strength.  
  
"Did you get the girl to her Watcher?"  
  
Xander nodded, "Giles needs to speak with you on some important matter." That didn't stop the man from kissing Buffy's ears and kissing her throat. When it comes down to the end, Xander was her salvation. He was normal in one way and totally not in others. He lost his eye in the fight with the preacher man and yet he still sees things the way he used to. Dawn once told her after the fight about what Xander had done for her after she learned her non-potential slayer status. In that moment the love that used to be only friendly became more.  
  
"Then I better go see what he wants before he goes all British."  
  
Then again, when it came down to the many, or few, men that Buffy has ever been involved with; Xander loved her more then she loved him but she wasn't far behind. Angel would always be her first love but this was something more amazing then that relationship, the relationship with Xander could last whereas the relationships with Angel, Riley and Spike were all doomed to fail.  
  
Xander kissed her again and allowed her to go into the building that held the council's offices. Buffy watched out the closest window as Xander went out of the courtyard and climbed up to the parapet of the outer bailey. He may be the seer of the group but Buffy wasn't blind, even though she felt that way sometimes. Xander was a man of many gifts and one of them was his gift of seeing things others couldn't because they ignored him most of the time.  
  
Buffy smiled, she loved Xander in a way that was perfect. She continued saying this in her head as she walked to Giles' room and walked in without knocking, a tradition long standing with them. You aren't with a person for almost seven years without losing a lot of the traditions others would have. Then she saw Faith and Giles and knew something was wrong.  
  
"That's right B, trouble is brewing."  
  
"No, we were done with this. Man," she exclaimed as she threw herself into one of Giles' comfy chairs. "What now?"  
  
"Well," Giles faltered.  
  
"What is it?" Buffy demanded rudely when he stopped suddenly.  
  
"We have a sanction of Rogue Slayers."  
  
Buffy turned to Faith, "Friends of yours?" she asked her friend. 


	2. Assignments

Contented  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Joss Whedon's awesome characters or any part of his show.  
  
Chapter Two: Assignments  
  
"Alaska?" Willow demanded. "We're going to Alaska to find a group of five plus Rogue Slayers?"  
  
Buffy pulled open the refrigerator and grabbed sodas for everyone. Faith, Robin, Giles, Willow, Kennedy, Andrew, Dawn and Xander were all flopped in various places of the living room in the Summers new house. It was a replica of the old house, made in reverence to Joyce and her life as the mother of a Slayer and the holder of the Scoobies. They had joined together like in the days of old to decide who would be going to Alaska and who would stay behind at the institution.  
  
Buffy sat down after handing out the sodas; her body snuggled against Xander's side. His fingers entwined with her fingers as the debate began. "I go where Buffy goes." Xander said as his piece and kissed Buffy cheek. Dressed in a black button up and blue jeans, the man looked at ease with the things going on around him but as the argument began Buffy felt Xander go tense.  
  
"What's wrong Baby?" Buffy asked. She'd learned to trust Xander's feelings over the years. After all, he was a seer; without the actual magical powers of a seer.  
  
"I don't think this is going to work unless we have the perfect group together. One wrong person going and we could fail and failure against a Rogue Slayer would be dangerous, even fatal to you. I don't want to lose you, we finally came together in a way that is forever and I don't want to lose that."  
  
Buffy sighed as she smiled at him, "So, whose staying and whose going, love?" Her forehead touched his as the question was posed to him and he groaned. "What if I make a mistake?" he asked.  
  
"If you fail, then I'll cover your butt."  
  
"Then I suggest we take Willow, Kennedy, Dawn and Giles."  
  
Buffy nodded and informed the group on her decision. Faith raised her hand and Buffy nodded for her to ask away. "Not that I don't mind not going to the Last Frontier but why aren't I going?"  
  
"Someone older in the Slayer department needs to be here. I need the original gang together on this. I have nothing against those not going but Willow, Xander and I have been together so long we can talk without speech and Dawn and Giles are our researchers and we do need a Watcher with us, especially one with Giles' abilities. I need at least one other Slayer and Kennedy is the one I need."  
  
No one questioned Buffy's decision so the group members who were going went to their homes and got ready to go and fight some Rogue Slayers which was never a fun gig. Since Xander lived with Buffy as well as Dawn, Willow, and Kennedy; the more correct thing to say was that they went to their rooms to pack. After the fight with the Big Bad the team was separated a lot of the time for about six months and Buffy became lonely. She invited them home when they were to find places to live when they moved to England. Xander made the house, larger rooms for the couples and smaller rooms that were still big enough for a teenager such as Dawn. He remade Buffy's special weapons trunk for her twenty second birthday and they created a reminder to Spike and Anya so they would never forget them.  
  
"Buffy, what are you thinking about?" Xander asked as they took out clothes for the trip and once again Buffy drifted away as she looked at their closet, his clothes next to her clothes. It was a special sight and it was one she never thought she'd see.  
  
"Baby?"  
  
"What? Oh yeah, I'm thinking that I'd like to have you all to myself for a little while," she said on a sigh as she wrapped her arms around Xander's neck. He smiled and kissed her softly, as he usually did. Something in Xander was different since the battle with the first, he was never in a rush to kiss her. When the sparks started happening they were always soo hurried, almost unable to wait out the need inside them but now, he was never in a rush when they touched each other. Like at the moment, his hands were moving up around the back of her head to play with her long blonde hair. Buffy allowed herself to do the same and her fingers bumped the band of the eye patch. She opened her eyes and looked into his one beautiful brown eye and she cried.  
  
"What is it, Baby?" Xander asked his worry for her evident in his tone as he sat her down on the bed and knelt in front of her. "Answer me, Buff."  
  
"I've hurt my friends in so many ways you can't tally them up; it wouldn't fit on one piece of paper."  
  
Xander looked confused when she looked down at him, which only made her ball harder. She fell to the floor, collapsing herself into his arms. Xander wrapped his arms around her and Buffy felt better that he could touch her and be in love with her even though she'd made him a handicap.  
  
"Baby, this wouldn't be about my eye would it?" Xander asked in a weird, can read minds kind of way and Buffy sat up and looked into his healthy eye. Xander was smiling softly, laugh lines showing his pleasure with her. "I told you once and I'll tell you again. This wasn't your fault nor was it mine or Dawnie's fault. This was the Big Bad trying to dump on our moral and it didn't work. You are a hero in all sense of the word; you are unique in a room full of Slayers. You shine when you speak to them and I shine when you speak to me."  
  
Buffy kissed her boyfriend and laughed as he started telling stupid almost dying jokes, how if she'd died, he'd just bring her back and that's what he did. As if a mutual decision was reached, they finished packing and walked downstairs to join the others. Willow asked Buffy if she was alright because Will could always tell if one of her friends were hurting inside or had been crying. Giles was talking to Dawn and Kennedy was talking to her trainer replacement as they said their goodbyes and walked out to Xander's nice car, which Faith was driving to get them all to the airport and then she would take the car back to the institute.  
  
Dawn kissed Andrew goodbye just before getting in beside her sister and the car drive was made fun with stupid jokes and stories about work and school. Giles muttered about the future of the world being doomed and then with the counter from Xander that he'd said that several times before and it was this doomed generation that kept saving the world, with a story told about the mayor's ascension and the reminder that everyone in the senior class and other classmates saved the world right next to the Scoobies. It was this generation that understood that Buffy had become the protector in High school and the stories started merge into one another when they finally arrived and Giles threw himself out of the car and they headed for their terminal.  
  
"Well, this is it," Buffy said as they got on the plane that would take them to the threat and sat down. Everyone was together in the middle row, going Kennedy, Willow, Dawn, Giles, Xander and Buffy. "Do we really have to go to Alaska?" she demanded one last time as the plane loaded and Giles nodded.  
  
Xander chuckled at the exchange and the plane soon took off, leading them to some serious fighting, something that had been missing from their lives for months. Buffy exhaled slowly and decidedly put her hair up in a ponytail and took out all the things if it were really cold there. When Xander finally looked away from Giles' ranting he noticed her actions and grabbed her hands, "Are you worried about the Rogues?"  
  
Buffy shook her head, her blonde hair swinging with the motion and he waited for her to answer, "I've never seen snow more than once and they said that in Alaska it gets below zero and sometimes you couldn't get out of your drive way because the snow was so deep that you just couldn't. They go to school in this kind of weather."  
  
"You're worried about the winter?" Xander asked, confused by his girlfriend's actions.  
  
"Yes, I am."  
  
She said that short sentence with such conviction that Xander had to keep from laughing so he wouldn't hurt her feelings and he just let her snuggle down next to him and they slept the rest of the way to Alaska. 


	3. Brr, Said The Slayer

Contented Disclaimer: Bla, Bla, Bla. I don't own Joss Whedon's characters.  
  
Chapter Three: Brr, Said the Slayer  
  
"Why did it have to be Alaska?" Buffy whined at Giles, while Dawn laughed heartily at her. Buffy was dressed in her jeans and tank with a jacket but Dawn was covered in the cold weather issue, and she and Giles seemed to be the only ones actually dressed properly, which meant a lot of Scooby Complainers as they drove to their hotel.  
  
Giles ignored them as they compared notes and made fun of his accent and he smiled, "What are you smiling about? Don't you know a good insult when you hear one? Or are you going deaf now too?" Xander bit out, Buffy laughed as Giles chuckled and watched the road.  
  
"The earth is doomed," Giles said simply. It was one of his favorite phrases and Buffy watched contently as Xander answered back.  
  
"How many times have we saved the world?"  
  
"To many to count," Willow answered.  
  
"Giles, how many more times will it take to convince you that we're good for the world?" Xander asked, curiosity written all over his handsome face. Buffy allowed her mind to wander as it did sometimes and she thought of the man that Xander had taken place of. Spike was a good man, and she was using the word 'man' in the loosest sense.  
  
Buffy looked out the window as the boys continued to fight civilly, which was a nice change. She looked back into a time that she barely ever allowed her mind to go, a time that she was with Spike. She knew that he loved her, had used him in ways that hurt her and him. He'd allowed her to treat him like dirt on her shoes because of his love for her and he was a warrior. At this time, her mind changed tacks and moved onto Anya. She was a seriously disturbed woman but she seemed to have the right idea when she was human. She didn't get what she was and yet she loved Xander and the rest of the Scoobies without thought, saved Andrew's life when she didn't have to. The pair of individuals were just that; a demon woman who turned out to love humans and a vampire who strived to be a man for Buffy even before he received his soul.  
  
"Buffy?" Xander said softly as he nudged her shoulder. Buffy looked at him and realized everyone was getting out of the car and heading towards a hotel. They headed to the counter and got their rooms, two of them; then they decided who was going to sleep in each room, one room had Willow, Kennedy, and Dawn while the other had Giles, Buffy and Xander in it.  
  
"Why aren't you making me stay with you?" Dawn asked Buffy as they were getting settled for the meeting taking place in Buffy's room. Xander and Giles decided to go riad the food store and the vending machines for snacks and then they would begin. Buffy looked at her sister and smiled. "You're so grown up now that besides serious situations, I don't think I need to watch you every second of the day now. I guess that's one of the advantages to having all the slayers awoken at the same time, you're safe just as the rest of my friends."  
  
"Buffy, I need to talk to you about Andrew," Dawn said after a tense silence.  
  
Buffy sat down on the bed and patted the blanketed spot next to her and Dawn sat down and looked at Buffy sharply. "What is it Dawn? Is he being all evil again and I didn't notice?"  
  
Dawn laughed at that so Buffy quickly assumed that was the wrong conclusion jump and decided to go for the gold, "Are you two having sex?" Once again, with the laughter except this time it started with a snort. Buffy stared at her sister, Dawn and Adrew were dating and truth be told, nothing ever seemed to be going on with them.  
  
"Well, that's one part of why I have to talk to you."  
  
Buffy nodded for her sibling to continue and the guys walked in, followed closely by the rest of the team and the sisterly moment was lost, and they would have to wait until tomorrow to try to resurrect it. 


	4. The Battle Begins

Contented Disclaimer: Okay, I think we understand by now that I don't own Buffy or Xander or any of Joss Whedon's characters.  
  
Chapter Four: The Battle Begins  
  
"Push them back!" Buffy yelled as they flew into the battle with the Rogue Slayers. There were only three but that was like battling three Faiths but when Buffy started fighting, she realized that these girls weren't trained; they had never been to their watcher. "Come on, we can do this, they aren't trained!"  
  
Kennedy also realized this and the two Slayers pushed them back as Dawn and Xander held Willow in this plain while she created a spell to send the girls away. She had to be careful not to kill them because they were human after all. Then Willow yelled, "Away!" and the three girls disappeared.  
  
Everyone turned and Willow was handed off to Kennedy before everyone sat down again, "Well, they know where we are. We have to leave now."  
  
Buffy snorted at Giles' statement and everyone started packing what they'd taken out of their bags and was on the road within the hour. Once again the making fun of other people began and then everyone fell silent. "What will happen to them Giles?" Dawn asked her mentor.  
  
Giles shrugged, "Hopefully not the same thing that happened with Faith because I don't think we can go through that again."  
  
"Well, at least there's only three," Willow replied.  
  
"There aren't only three," Nathan said, the first thing to come out of his mouth for the whole trip. Since he was now in the car too, Buffy was draped across Xander's lap and them sharing a seat belt.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
Nathan looked at the blonde slayer in front of him and smiled, "There are seven. I had seven slayers who were supposed to come to me and they found each other first. They became the Rogue slayers. They won't leave the populous alone; they keep hurting people and stealing things for the fun of it."  
  
Buffy spoke before she thought of what she was doing, "Want. Take. Have."  
  
"What?" Xander asked, having heard her.  
  
"What, oh, it was something that Faith tried to instill in me when she was going bad. It was right before she went to the mayor, she told me that we were slayers, what we want, we take and have. Something about being above others. I think we need her."  
  
"You want to bring in a potential rogue?" Nathan squeaked, the man was really starting to tick her off. He kind of reminded her of Wesley which wasn't helping the other man's case.  
  
"You're getting on my nerves, man!" Buffy said out loud. "Look, Faith is reformed, she wants to help us and she was upset that she didn't get to come in the first place."  
  
Nathan looked confused but Buffy forged ahead, "I can tell you that we don't really like bossy watchers, we trained that right out of Giles a long time ago. The next one was evil and Wesley had to be beat several times to get him to leave us be. Don't be as stupid as he was."  
  
"Buffy!" Giles said, shocked.  
  
"What? It's true, I don't have time for annoying watchers who think they deserve to boss me around. I haven't needed a watcher for a few years now and if I ever did, I would go to Giles. Giles was my watcher and no other man or woman will take his place, got it?"  
  
Nathan nodded and turned to Dawn for a second then turned back to Buffy, "Wasn't she the key, in the fight with Glory?"  
  
Buffy nodded and allowed the others to tell that story, the one of her second death and she thought of the place she'd gone to then with happiness, that places was waiting for her and her friends when she finally did get to stay dead, right now she was needed here and she would fight and train others to take the lead until she was no longer needed. She did know that at some point in her life here on earth she would no longer be needed and the happiest part of this scenario was that she would get to live to her ripe old age as her freedom was released to her.  
  
Maybe it was something that a person just knew, a life of future happiness that Buffy felt was in store for her. She somehow knew that despite whatever happens, she would finally be done growing up. Maybe she was finally ready to be all done growing. "Anyway, that's what happened." She could hear Xander saying as he smiled. Buffy knew hr happiness had finally found the right form too. She smiled at her boyfriend and they listened to Giles' annoying music in silence before they started their usual banter about shopping, British men, and the Slayers back home.  
  
"I want you to call Faith," Giles said to Buffy as the signed for three rooms at the hotel in the midst of a small town called palmer. Buffy nodded and her and Xander walked up to their room that they were going to share with Giles and Buffy picked up the phone and dialed the Council number.  
  
"Hello?" Robin asked over the line.  
  
"It's Buffy, can I take to Faith?"  
  
"Yeah," obviously Faith was in the room because she came right on the line and greeted Buffy, "Hey B, you need me already?"  
  
"Yeah, we do need you. I need your help dealing with the Rogue Slayers; you know what's going on in their minds. You can help us find out what they want."  
  
Faith spoke to Robin for a second and then answered, "I'll be there as soon as possible. Where are you?"  
  
Buffy gave her the information and rang off. "She coming?" Xander asked.  
  
"Yeah, she is. Maybe she can help us figure out what to do with these girls."  
  
AN: Sorry so short guys, more next time. 


End file.
